Similes

Similes:  Similes are used to  describe things by comparing them to something else, usually using “ like” or “ as”. For example, “ he cried like a baby “,  “ I was as weak as a kitten” . We know how a baby cries – unrestrained, the whole body convulsed – so this helps us to imagine a person in a fit of uncontrollable weeping. Similarly, we know what a tiny kitten is like which helps us to picture a person who feels vulnerable and physically barely able to stand.  In Craig Raine’s poem Pretty Baa Lamb, the poet describes his experience with a new born lamb:

I give it a finger to suck

And it pulls like a plughole

We know how strongly water is sucked down a plughole, so the poet uses that to help us understand what it felt like to have a tiny lamb suck so fiercely on his finger.

Another example:  Toad by Norman Maccaig

I love you for being a toad

for crawling like a Japanese wrestler

and for not being frightened 

Here the poet is inviting us to link the image of the toad with that of a Sumo wrestler: powerful, squatting on solid haunches, moving forward in a rocking motion, ready to fight.